Multi-heat source power plant

ABSTRACT

According to present invention, a method is provided for operating a multi-heat source power plant using a low-medium temperature heat source fluid, wherein the multi-heat source power plant includes a turbine or expander run by an organic motive fluid, comprising preheating the organic motive fluid using the low-medium temperature heat source fluid and thereafter providing further heat from an additional heat source to vaporize the motive fluid which is supplied to the turbine or expander. 
     Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides an apparatus comprising a heat exchanger suitable to pre-heat an organic motive fluid with a low-medium temperature geothermal fluid, and solar energy collecting means suitable to directly or indirectly provide heat to the pre-heated organic motive fluid for heating and vaporizing the motive fluid. 
     In addition, in a further embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides an apparatus comprising a heat exchanger suitable to pre-heat an organic motive fluid with a low-medium temperature unused industrial heat streams, and solar energy collecting means suitable to directly or indirectly provide heat to the pre-heated organic motive fluid for heating and vaporizing as well as superheating the motive fluid.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the more efficient utilization of low-medium temperature sensible heat source fluids in conjunction with relatively high temperature heat sources. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel method and system for utilizing low and medium temperature geothermal fluids and/or liquids from geothermal wells or alternatively unused industrial heat streams by making use of such resources together with solar energy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Economic exploitation of non fossil and non nuclear heat sources for power generation is dependent on the amount of heat available, its temperature and a size of power plant that can justify its erection costs as well as its operational costs. In this regard, the lower the heat source temperature, the larger the amount of heat (and consequently the bigger the heat exchangers) required for a given power output. As a consequence, the cost of the power plant per kW will be higher. In the case of geothermal energy for example, geothermal fields comprising wells producing low-temperature geothermal fluid cannot be efficiently and economically exploited to operate power plants, since the lower the enthalpy of the fluid, the more expensive the power plant becomes for a given capacity. Due to this, geothermal wells whose drilling costs are substantial are not usually exploited in such geothermal fluids. In addition, the temperature of the geothermal fluid produced by operating geothermal wells may drop after some years of operation causing a reduction of the output of the geothermal power plant as well as its possible derating by the electric utility.

Most low-temperature heat sources are in the form of sensible heat which is most efficiently used for preheating in Rankine cycle power plants. Their use for vaporizing the motive fluid at constant temperature in the power cycle is not effective (see FIG. 1). In this respect, organic fluids require less pre-heating than water/steam and thus more effectively utilize the sensible heat.

As a consequence, many low temperature heat source fluids cannot be effectively used.

As far as solar power plants are concerned, their cost is very dependent on the solar collector cost or solar collector size per kW. Furthermore, in order for solar power plants to provide continuous power, expensive storage (requiring additional solar collectors) and/or fossil fuel needs to be used.

Some methods have been devised so far to exploit low heat and thus low input from the geothermal sources in a more efficient manner. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,578,953 and 4,700,543, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference, of Krieger and Moritz describe a plurality of independent, closed Rankine cycle power plants, each of which has a vaporizer, operated by serially applying a medium or low temperature source fluid to the vaporizers of the power plants for producing heat depleted source fluid. A pre-heater is provided for each vaporizer; and the heat depleted source fluid is applied to all of the pre-heaters in parallel. The heat depleted source fluid thus serves to heat the operating fluid to the vaporization temperature, while the source fluid applied to the vaporizers supplies the latent heat of vaporization to the operating fluid of the power plant.

Attempts in the past have been made to combine geothermal and solar energy but without addressing the issue of optimization of the specific characteristics of the respective heat sources. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,949 discloses a method for operating a vapor cycle engine wherein a vaporizable fluid is circulated in a closed loop through a first heat source, a second heat source, an expansion vapor engine, a condenser, and back to the first heat source. The method of operation comprises the steps of heating the fluid in the first heat source to a relatively low temperature t to vaporize at least a major portion of the fluid, super-heating the fluid in the second heat source to a temperature T, supplying the fluid to the expansion vapor engine for producing power and then exhausting the expanded fluid from the engine at a temperature T₂ which is greater than the temperature t. This patent describes the combination of geothermal heat and solar heat in a manner which is not efficient, since the aim is to superheat the circulated fluid. To date, no practical application of this method has been made.

Another attempt to integrate geothermal and solar energy is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,381 where an energy transport and conversion system is provided for conducting geothermal energy over extended distances avoiding the lose of heat by use of solar energy in order to permit efficient conversion of geothermal energy at a central thermal power station. However, the system described in this patent is impractical and expensive and, furthermore, is designed to prevent loss of existing geothermal energy, and not to exploit low enthalpy geothermal energy that would otherwise remain unexploited.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for exploiting low-medium temperature geothermal fluid produced by geothermal wells so that their economical exploitation can be achieved.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method for exploiting such low-medium quality geothermal fluid produced by geothermal wells by combining them with the use of solar energy in an efficient and economical manner.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system which enables the method of the invention to be carried out.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a method is provided for operating a multi-heat source power plant using a low-medium temperature heat source fluid, wherein said multi-heat source power plant includes a turbine or expander run by an organic motive fluid, comprising pre-heating said organic motive fluid using said low-medium temperature heat source fluid and thereafter providing further heat from an additional heat source to vaporize the motive fluid which is supplied to said turbine or expander.

Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides an apparatus comprising a heat exchanger suitable to pre-heat an organic motive fluid with a low-medium temperature geothermal fluid, and solar energy collecting means suitable to directly or indirectly provide heat to the pre-heated organic motive fluid for heating and vaporizing said motive fluid.

In addition, in a further embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides an apparatus comprising a heat exchanger suitable to pre-heat an organic motive fluid with a low-medium temperature unused industrial heat streams, and solar energy collecting means suitable to directly or indirectly provide heat to the pre-heated organic motive fluid for heating and vaporizing as well as superheating said motive fluid.

The present invention consequently enables the implementation of economical power plants in many sites where the use of only sensible heat at low temperatures or solar heat separately cannot be justified. This is due to too high cost of electricity produced brought about by too large an investment in heat exchangers (use of sensible heat only) and too large solar collectors (use of solar heat only) or because of too small a size of power plant (high project fixed cost and/or operating costs).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a temperature—heat diagram showing the temperature and heat characteristics of a system operating with an organic motive fluid compared to a system operating on water as its motive fluid, the heat source being e.g. geothermal brine or liquid having substantial amount of sensible heat;

FIG. 2A is a temperature—heat diagram showing the temperature and heat characteristics of a system operating in accordance with the present invention typically around noon time;

FIG. 2B is a temperature—heat diagram showing the temperature and heat characteristics of a system operating in accordance with the present invention during early morning and late afternoon hours;

FIG. 2C is a temperature—heat diagram showing the temperature and heat characteristics of a system operating in accordance with the present invention during night time;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system constructed and arranged in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the motive fluid is vaporized directly by solar energy;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an alternative system constructed and arranged in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, using a flash vaporizer;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of still another alternative system constructed and arranged in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the invention, which utilizes thermal oil to heat the organic motive fluid and vaporize the organic motive fluid;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative arrangement constructed and arranged in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which heat from geothermal fluid produced by a geothermal production well is used to pre-heat the motive fluid and solar energy is used to provide not only heat for vaporizing the motive fluid but also for operating an additional power plant;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a system constructed and arranged in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the motive fluid is pre-heated by unused industrial heat streams and vaporized directly by solar energy;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a another alternative system constructed and arranged in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the motive fluid is pre-heated by unused industrial heat streams utilizing a thermal oil and vaporized directly by solar energy;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of still another alternative system constructed and arranged in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the invention, in which thermal oil is utilized to heat the organic motive fluid using unused industrial heat streams and vaporize and also superheat the organic motive fluid with heat from solar energy;

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of a power plant constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention, the solar collector being orientated in the east-west direction;

FIG. 11 shows a further embodiment of a power plant constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention, the solar collector being orientated in north-south direction;

FIG. 12A shows a schematic diagram of a solar concentrating parabolic trough collector receiver system which is suitable for use in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12B shows a schematic diagram of a Fresnel type solar concentrating collector receiver system which is suitable for use in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12C shows a schematic diagram of a solar tower central tower solar concentrating collector receiver system which is suitable for use in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows a schematic diagram of a solar tower concentrating collector central receiver system which is suitable for use in the embodiment of present invention described with reference to FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 shows a schematic diagram of another solar concentrating collector receiver system which is also suitable for use in the embodiment of present invention described with reference to FIG. 6; and

FIG. 15 shows a schematic diagram of a solar concentrating collector receiver system, having a secondary mirror so that the receiver is located on the ground, which is suitable for use in the embodiments of present invention described with reference to FIGS. 7C, 8 and 9.

Note that similar reference numerals refer to similar components in the embodiments of the present invention described with reference to the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the context of the description of the present invention, the term “low-medium temperature” typically, but non-limiting, refers to temperatures in the range of about 160-395° F. (i.e. about 70°-200° C.).

As used herein, the term “motive fluid” refers to any fluid used to operate an expander or turbine, such as the organic fluids or steam that will be further described hereinafter. Similarly, while one of the most common examples of low-medium temperature heat source fluid is a geothermal fluid e.g. geothermal liquid or brine, which is used in the examples below, the skilled person will appreciate that any other low-medium temperature fluids can be used instead of the geothermal fluids to carry out the present invention, for the purpose of pre-heating the motive fluid. For example, spent heat is often available in many processes, such as industrial processes, as a result of intermediate heat exchange stages, or as byproducts, which can be used for this purpose. Thus, thermal oil or any other suitable fluid having a certain heat content level flowing in a continuous stream in a process can be utilized according to the present invention.

The following detailed description will illustrate the invention. From this description a basic characteristic of the invention will become apparent, namely that the invention allows the exploitation of a substantial amount of the heat coming from solar energy for boiling, and in some cases essentially all of such solar energy heat is used for that purpose. In certain cases a small or even negligible amount of the solar energy heat is used for pre-heating the motive fluid, in addition to the solar energy heat used for vaporizing or boiling the motive fluid. Accordingly, as will be apparent to the skilled person, the invention allows an efficient exploitation of both low or medium energy heat coming from a source, such as geothermal fluid or the like, which is available on a continuous basis, and of the solar energy which is available during daytime only (see FIG. 2A). In FIG. 2A, the heat transfer characteristics of the present invention are shown (at around noon time during summer) and it can be seen that substantially good heat source—heat sink (motive fluid) matching is achieved by the present invention. I.e., according to the present invention, low-medium temperature fluid, e.g. geothermal fluid, etc. is used in the low temperature pre-heating portion of the power cycle (providing approximately 64% of the pre-heating of the organic motive fluid which is a substantial portion of the heat required to operate the power plant), while a substantial amount of the relatively high temperature solar concentrated heat is used for boiling the motive fluid.

FIG. 3 is a simplified drawing of a system constructed and arranged in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Production well 1 supplies geothermal fluid, usually geothermal liquid or brine, to pre-heater 2. The cooled geothermal fluid is disposed of in injection well 3. The organic motive fluid supplied from condenser 8, either directly or through recuperator 4 via line 5 is pre-heated in pre-heater 2 using the geothermal fluid and the pre-heated motive fluid leaves the pre-heater through line 5′ and is fed to solar collector/vaporizer 6 where it is heated and vaporized or boiled. Vaporized motive fluid produced is supplied through line 5″ and fed to turbine 7 where it expands and produces electric power by driving an electric generator. Spent vaporized motive fluid exits turbine 7 and is supplied through recuperator 4, where the spent vaporized motive fluid heats motive fluid condensate, to condenser 8 for producing motive fluid condensate using air or water as the cooling medium. The motive fluid condensate is then supplied to the recuperator and the cycle is repeated.

The following numeric example will illustrate the operation of the system shown in FIG. 3. Geothermal fluid from production well 1, at 320° F. (160° C.) flows at a flow rate of 908,000 lb/hr (412,000 kg/hr) to pre-heater 2 from where it is disposed of in the re-injection well 3 at a temperature of 175° F. (about 79° C.). Motive fluid flows from condenser 8 through recuperator 4 where it reaches a temperature of 150° F. (about 65° C.) and, after being pre-heated in pre-heater 2 is supplied to solar collector 6 at a temperature of 310° F. (about 155° C.). A small portion of the solar energy is used to heat the motive fluid from 310° F. (about 155° C.) to about 345° F. (173.5° C.), at which temperature it is vaporized or boiled and the vaporized motive fluid produced is fed to the turbine for producing electric power. Spent vaporized motive fluid is supplied from the turbine through the recuperator and fed to the condenser. Motive fluid condensate leaving condenser 8 is pumped at a temperature of 95° F. (35° C.) to the recuperator. Under these operating conditions, the power produced is about 16,000 kW gross.

FIG. 4 is a variant of the system of FIG. 3, and the same numerals are used to indicate elements that are identical in both cases. The following differences exist between the two systems: according to this embodiment, the organic motive fluid is not vaporized in the solar collector, but rather the liquid motive fluid is heated in solar collector/receiver 6′ and the heated liquid motive fluid is supplied, through line 9 to flash vaporizer 10 where it is allowed to flash and vaporize. The vaporized motive fluid produced leaves the flash vaporizer through line 9′ and is supplied to turbine 7 for producing electric power. In this embodiment, solar collector 6′ does not require to be coupled with a vaporizer, which can be provided separately.

In order to appreciate one of the numerous advantages of the invention, it should be understood how the system of FIG. 4 operates during different portions of the day. The operation of the system can be essentially divided into four separate times: full sunlight, decreasing sunlight, increasing sunlight and night-time. During full sunlight (e.g. at around noon time during summer), operation will proceed in a manner similar to that described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 with vaporized motive fluid produced in e.g. flash vaporizer 10 (see FIG. 4) being supplied to turbine 7 for producing electric power (see also FIG. 2A). However, as the day progresses toward evening e.g. late afternoon hours e.g. about 6:00 p.m., the amount of energy supplied by the sun constantly decreases. A similar situation also occurs when a sunny sky becomes cloudy. The temperature of the motive fluid leaving the pre-heater does not substantially change because the heat provided by geothermal fluid or liquid produced by production well 1 is substantially constant. Assuming that the system operates such that the motive fluid is brought to its vaporization temperature in pre-heater 2 at the operating pressure of vaporizer 10, then only the heat of vaporization is supplied by solar collector 6′. As the amount of energy supplied by solar collector 6′ decreases, the pressure in vaporizer 10 is reduced by a pressure controller (not shown), permitting the motive fluid to vaporize in spite of the reduced energy input. The pressure is thus reduced as a function of the level of the solar energy input. FIG. 2B shows the heat transfer characteristic of the present invention at such hours. Usually, the low temperature pre-heating carried out here will commence at a higher temperature than that carried out in the system operating under the conditions described with reference to FIG. 2A since, at such times, not all of the motive fluid is vaporized, see the description relating to FIG. 4 above. FIG. 2B shows that reasonably good heat source—heat sink (motive fluid) matching is still achieved at such hours. Under such conditions geothermal fluid provides approximately 78% of the pre-heating of the organic working fluid and as will be explained below a power level of 9.2 MW gross electric power is still produced.

At night-time, the system operates at the lowest operating pressure of vaporizer 10, since heat is provided only by geothermal fluid or liquid produced from production well 1. FIG. 2C show beat transfer characteristics of the present invention during such night-time hours. On the other hand, in the early morning hours, e.g. about 7:00 a.m., when some solar radiation begins to be collected in the solar system, the amount of heat added by it increases once again and the operating pressure in vaporizer 10 increases accordingly. FIG. 2B shows that reasonably good heat source—heat sink (motive fluid) matching is still achieved at such early morning hours. Of course, similar changes may occur during the day, as explained above, as a result of atmospheric conditions, and the system responds to such changes in the same manner. Thus, the present invention provides operation even when the intensity of the solar energy drops or even is not present (e.g. at night).

The following numeric example will illustrate the operation of the system of FIG. 4. At e.g. early morning hours, about 7:00 a.m. in the summer, a motive fluid temperature of about 345° F. (173.5° C.) is achieved at the exit of solar collector 6′. Thereafter, this heated motive fluid is supplied to flash vaporizer 10 where vaporized motive fluid is produced and is supplied to turbine 7 at a temperature of about 357° F. (160.8° C.) so that 11.5 MW gross electric power is produced. On the other hand, at 6:00 p.m. in the late afternoon towards evening in summer, a motive fluid temperature of about 305° F. (151.2° C.) is achieved at the exit of solar collector 6′ so that 9.2 MW gross electric power is produced. Consequently, it can be seen that even during such early hours of the day and late hours of the day, a substantial amount of power is produced although the level of solar radiation is relatively low [29.5 MW_(t) (thermal) at 7:00 a.m., 23.1 MW_(t) (thermal) at 6:00 p.m., compared to 39.6 MW_(t) (thermal) at 12:00 noon (when 16 MW gross electric power is produced)].

FIGS. 2A and 2B as well as the numerical examples demonstrate that the preferred use, according to the present invention, of an organic motive fluid enhances the amount of heat involved in the pre-heating of the motive fluid with geothermal fluid (or other low-energy fluid). Furthermore, FIG. 1 also shows, that the preferred use of an organic motive fluid rather than water provides an increase in the power level produced by a power plant operating in accordance with the present invention.

Turning to FIG. 5, a system is shown, which differs from the previous embodiments since the organic motive fluid is not directly heated in the solar collector; rather, solar collector 6″ heats thermal oil, flowing in a closed heat transfer loop indicated in the figure by reference numeral 11, which heats the pre-heated organic motive fluid (flowing into vaporizer 10′ through line 12). According to the system of the present embodiment, the heat exchanger used for heating the pre-heated organic motive fluid with thermal oil is incorporated in vaporizer 10′. The vaporized motive fluid produced in vaporizer 10′ exits through line 9′ and is supplied to turbine 7 for producing electric power. In the present embodiment, solar collector 6″, shown in FIG. 5, will be larger than solar collectors 6 and 6′ shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively.

The following numeric example will illustrate the operation of the system described with reference to FIG. 5. It is assumed that the geothermal fluid is supplied from production well 1 at a temperature of 320° F. (160° C.) and at a flow rate of 908,000 pounds per hour (412,000 kg/hr). After pre-heating the organic motive fluid to a temperature of 310° F. (about 155° C.), the geothermal fluid leaves the pre-heater at 175° F. (about 79° C.).

Thermal oil is heated in solar collector 6″ to about 445° F. (about 230° C.), at which temperature it is fed to vaporizer 10′ for producing organic motive fluid vapor (which in this example is n-pentane) at a temperature of about 345° F. (173.5° C., usually geothermal liquid or brine,), the organic motive fluid vapor produced being supplied thereafter to turbine 7. The thermal oil leaves vaporizer 10′ at about 355° F. (about 180° C.). Cooling water, if used, is fed to condenser 8 at a temperature of 21° C. and leaves at 30° C. while the temperature of the motive fluid condensate leaving the condenser is 95° F. (35° C.). Recuperator 4 heats the motive fluid condensate to 150° F. (about 65° C.). Under these operating conditions, the electric power produced is 16,000 kW gross. It is to emphasized the FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B are also descriptive of the operation of the present embodiment of the invention. During night-time, see FIG. 2C, a further vaporizer (not shown) would be used in the present embodiment of the invention to which geothermal fluid would be supplied (for vaporizing motive fluid) in addition to the geothermal fluid supplied to pre-heater 2.

Referring now to FIG. 6, geothermal fluid, usually geothermal liquid or brine, is fed from production well 40 to pre-heater 41, where motive fluid supplied from a condenser through recuperator 42 is pre-heated and then fed to vaporizer 43. Vaporizer 43 receives heat from a separate power cycle using motive fluid supplied from recuperator 44 in the separate power cycle. Motive fluid vapor produced in vaporizer 43 is fed to turbine 45 for producing electric power.

In this embodiment, a separate power cycle, a topping cycle, designated A, operates such that a separate motive fluid is heated using solar heating system 46. In the example described with reference to FIG. 6, the motive fluid in separate cycle A, supplied from recuperator 44, is first pre-heated in pre-heater 47 and solar system 46 supplies heat of evaporation (as well as additional heating, if required) so that motive fluid vapor is produced in vaporizer 48. Subsequently, the motive fluid vapor is supplied to turbine 50 for producing electric power. The cycle of separate topping cycle A is completed when the expanded motive fluid vapor from turbine 50 is fed to condenser/vaporizer 43 via recuperator 44 for producing motive fluid condensate.

As can be seen from FIG. 6, condenser/vaporizer 43 provides heat for vaporizing or boiling the motive fluid, pre-heated by geothermal fluid supplied from production well 40 in bottoming cycle designated B. In condenser/vaporizer 43, heat produced by condensation of the motive fluid of separate topping cycle A provides the heat for vaporizing the motive fluid of the bottoming cycle pre-heated by the geothermal fluid. In such a manner, efficient heat transfer matching is achieved. Furthermore, this embodiment is particularly useful when the temperature that can be achieved in solar system 46 is relatively high, e.g. about 290° C. at the outlet of solar system 46. If preferred, pre-heating in topping cycle A can be carried out using geothermal fluid (not shown).

In a numerical example of the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIG. 6, it is assumed, here also, that the geothermal fluid is supplied at a temperature of 320° F. (160° C.), from production well 40 at a flow rate of 908,000 pounds per hour (412,000 kg/hr) to pre-heater 41. After transferring heat to the organic motive fluid in the pre-heater which reaches a temperature of 310° F. (about 155° C.), the geothermal fluid leaves the pre-heater at 175° F. (about 79° C.). Vaporizer/condenser 43 produces organic motive fluid vapor which exits at about 345° F. (173.5° C.) and is supplied to turbine 45 for producing electric power e.g. at a level of about 16,000 kW gross. Cooling water, if used, is fed to the condenser at a temperature of 21° C. and leaves at 30° C. while the temperature of the motive fluid condensate leaving the condenser is 95° F. (35° C.). The recuperator heats the motive fluid condensate to 150° F. (about 65° C.).

In the topping cycle, liquid is heated in the solar collector to approximately 554° F. (290° C.), at which temperature it is fed to vaporizer 48, liquid being fed to pre-heater 47 at about 465° F. (240° C.). The organic motive fluid vapor produced in vaporizer 48 is supplied to turbine 50 for producing electric power. Spent motive fluid vapor existing the turbine is supplied to recuperator 44 and thereafter to vaporizer/condenser 43 at a temperature of 383° F. (195° C.). Motive fluid condensate produced therein is supplied back to pre-heater 47 using cycle pump 49 through recuperator 44. Under these operating conditions the electric power produced by topping cycle A is 4025 kW gross. Consequently, in this embodiment, a higher power output is achieved than previous embodiments described herein while operating at a similar efficiency level.

Turning to a further embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 presents a simplified drawing of a system constructed and arranged in accordance with an additional embodiment of the present invention utilizing an unused industrial heat stream. Gas from gas turbine exhaust 1′ supplies heat to motive fluid supplied to waste heat pre-heater 2′. The cooled gas turbine exhaust gas is disposed of via stack 3′. The organic motive fluid supplied from condenser 8′, either directly or through recuperator 4′ via line 5′ is pre-heated in pre-heater 2′ using gas from gas turbine exhaust 1′ and the pre-heated motive fluid leaves the waste heat pre-heater through line 5′ and is fed to solar collector/vaporizer 6′″ where it is heated and boiled and also superheated. Motive fluid vapor produced is supplied through line 5″ and fed to turbine 7 where it expands and produces electric power by driving an electric generator. Spent vaporized motive fluid exits turbine 7 and is supplied through recuperator 4′, where the spent vaporized motive fluid heats motive fluid condensate, to condenser 8′ for producing motive fluid condensate using air or water as the cooling medium. The motive fluid condensate is then supplied to the recuperator and the cycle is repeated.

FIG. 8 shows a system which differs from the previous embodiment described with reference to FIG. 7 since the organic motive fluid is not directly heated by gas from the gas turbine exhaust; rather, gas from gas turbine exhaust 1″ heats thermal oil, flowing in a closed heat transfer loop indicated in the figure by reference numeral 11′, and heats organic motive fluid present in pre-heater 2″. Thereafter, preheated motive fluid is supplied to solar collector/ receiver 6″″ through line 12′ for vaporizing and also superheating the motive fluid. The vaporized motive fluid produced in vaporizer solar collector/ receiver 6″″ exits through line 5″ and is supplied to turbine 7 for producing electric power.

As far as FIG. 9 is concerned, a system is shown, which differs from the previous embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 since the organic motive fluid is not directly heated in the solar collector; rather, solar collector 6′″″ heats thermal oil, flowing in a closed heat transfer loop indicated in the figure by reference numeral 11″, which heats the pre-heated organic motive fluid (flowing into vaporizer/superheater 10″ through line 12). According to the system of the present embodiment, the heat exchanger used for heating the pre-heated organic motive fluid with thermal oil is incorporated in vaporizer/superheater 10″. The vaporized motive fluid produced in vaporizer/superheater 10″ exits through line 9 and is supplied to turbine 7 for producing electric power. In the present embodiment, solar collector 6′″″, shown in FIG. 9, will be larger than solar collectors 6′″ and 6″″ shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 respectively.

The following numeric example will illustrate the operation of the system utilizing an unused industrial heat stream and also described with reference to FIG. 9. It is assumed that the unused industrial heat stream or gas turbine exhaust gas is supplied from the gas turbine at a temperature of production well 1 at a temperature of 783° F. (417° C.). After transferring heat to thermal oil in the waste heat heater, the heat depleted gas turbine exhaust gas leaves the waste heat heater at 257° F. (about 125° C.). The heated thermal oil transfers 5550 kW heat to the motive fluid in pre-heater 2″.

Thermal oil circulating in further oil loop 11′″ is heated in solar collector 6′″″ and is fed to vaporizer/superheater 10″ for supplying 3500 kW latent heat to organic motive fluid therein and producing organic motive fluid vapor at a temperature of about 400° F. (204° C.) which is supplied thereafter to turbine 7. Air, if used, is supplied to air-cooled condenser 8 at a temperature of 59° F. (15° C.). Under these operating conditions, economical operation is achieved anf the electric power produced is 3,000 kW gross compared to 1,475 kW if solar collector/receiver 6′″″ were not used.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show embodiments of the present invention can comprising solar collectors, e.g. trough collectors, 6, 6′, 6″, 6′″, 6′″″, 6′″″ and 46 (see FIGS. 1-9) orientated in the East-West (EW) direction (FIG. 10) or alternatively orientated in the North-South (NS) direction (see FIG. 11). As can be seen from FIGS. 10 and 11, EW orientated solar collectors provides a smoother operation for the power plant while the NS orientated solar collectors provide a more step like function operation of the power plant over the hours of the day. However, as described with reference to FIG. 2, the present invention still provides substantial operation of the solar portion of the power plant and reasonable power production levels even during the early hours and late hours of the day.

In accordance with the present invention, basically any solar concentrating collector receiver system can be used in the embodiments of the present invention. E.g. solar parabolic trough collector receiver systems (see FIG. 12A) or solar Fresnel collector receiver system (see FIG. 12B), etc can be used as the solar collectors/receivers in the embodiments of the present invention previously described. Also, if preferred, solar heliostat collectors in a field (see FIG. 12C) for providing heat to a central receiver at the top of a solar tower, etc. can be used as the solar collectors/receivers in the embodiments of the present invention previously described.

Turning to FIG. 13, the vaporizer of the topping cycle (see FIG. 6) is located on the solar tower when using the solar heliostat collectors. If preferred, rather than locating the vaporizer of the topping cycle on the solar tower, a flash vaporizer can be located at ground level, while liquid is circulated to the receiver heater positioned on the solar tower, see FIG. 14. Such an arrangement is also suitable for use in the embodiment of the invention described with reference to FIG. 4 where flash vaporizer 10 would be located at ground level. In a further embodiment, see FIG. 15, a secondary mirror can be located at the top of the solar tower so that the radiation can be directed to a receiver located at ground level (beam-down). Such an arrangement can be used in the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 12C, 13 and 14.

It should be appreciated that, while the invention is not limited to the use of marginal heat sources, it is also useful in such cases. In this respect, the above results show that, without the invention, the energy available from the low temperature geothermal fluid would not be exploited at all, since operating a power plant with low energy liquids coming from such sources would not commercially worthwhile. Thus, the invention allows exploiting sources that would otherwise go wasted.

Of course, from the engineering point of view, it is possible to operate a power plant using such low temperature geothermal fluid but, as explained above, this is not economical. However, now that, according to the present invention, a geothermal power plant is built in combination with apparatus operating on solar energy in the specific and novel way provided by the present invention, the economic barrier is overcome. Consequently, it is now possible to exploit low temperature geothermal fluid or liquid produced from such production wells even during hours when the intensity of the solar energy is relatively low or even when solar energy is not available, without causing the operation of the power plant to become uneconomical. In addition, the use of low temperature geothermal fluid, usually geothermal liquid or brine, for preheating the organic motive fluid provides a substantial amount of heat to the plant, permitting the solar system to be more compact and thus cheaper.

As will be apparent to the skilled person, a variety of organic motive fluids can be preferably employed in the system of the invention, and the selection of a specific liquid to be used will depend on a number of considerations, such as the type and size of turbine and of the other equipment, the specific location of the power plant, which influences the amount of solar energy that can be exploited, and the number of hours during the day when solar energy is available. Illustrative examples of suitable motive fluids, but non-limiting, include isopentane, n-pentane, butane, propane, hexane, Terminol LT, DowthermJ and dodecane, and mixtures of two or more of such organic fluids. Furthermore, as far as the embodiments of the present invention describing a topping cycle and a bottoming cycle, e.g. FIG. 6, FIG. 13 and FIG. 15, are concerned, illustrative examples of suitable motive fluids, but non-limiting, for topping cycle A include Terminol LT, DowthermJ, dodecane, isopentane, n-pentane and water, while illustrative examples of suitable motive fluids, but non-limiting, for bottoming cycle B include isopentane, n-pentane, butane, propane, hexane. Note that Therminol LT is the commercial name for the alkyl substituted aromatic fluid of the Solutia Company having a center in Belgium. Dowtherm J, on the other hand, is the commercial name for a mixture of isomers of an alkylated aromatic fluid of the Dow Chemical Company being centered in the U.S.A.

Note that the numerical examples provided herein are based on conditions during summer in East Mesa, Calif., U. S. A for n-pentane. During other seasons, lower temperature operation will be achieved by the system of the present invention.

Of course, the systems described above only schematically exemplify the invention and different arrangements can be provided, without exceeding the scope of the claims. For example, more than one geothermal well producing geothermal fluid or liquid can be used in a cascaded system, which in turn may operate more than one turbine. The skilled person will easily devise many different arrangements, as well as many variations in the equipment and apparatus used to carry out the invention.

While some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be apparent that the invention can be put into practice with many modifications, variations and adaptations, and with the use of numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims. 

1. A method for operating a multi-heat source power plant using a low-medium temperature heat source fluid, wherein said multi-heat source power plant includes a turbine run by an organic motive fluid, comprising pre-heating said organic motive fluid using said low-medium temperature heat source fluid and thereafter providing further heat from an additional heat source to vaporize the motive fluid which is supplied to said turbine.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the motive fluid is vaporized using concentrated solar energy.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein prior to vaporizing a portion of the solar energy is used to raise the temperature of the motive fluid and then vaporize it.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein if the amount of solar energy supplied to the motive fluid temporarily decreases, said motive fluid is vaporized by a corresponding reduction of pressure in a vaporizer.
 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the low-medium temperature heat source fluid is geothermal liquid.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the low-medium temperature heat source fluid is an unused industrial heat stream.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the low-medium temperature heat source fluid is in the range of 70°-200° C.
 8. A method according to claim 2 wherein solar energy is concentrated using a concentrating solar collector.
 9. A method according to claim 1 wherein the motive fluid is selected from isopentane, n-pentane, butane, propane, hexane, alkyl substituted aromatic fluid, a mixture of isomers of an alkylated aromatic fluid and dodecane.
 10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the motive fluid exchanges heat with the low-medium temperature heat source fluid to produce pre-heated motive fluid.
 11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the motive fluid that has been preheated by the low-medium temperature heat source fluid is heated by heat exchange with a thermal oil which is heated by solar energy for providing heat for vaporizing said motive fluid.
 12. A method according to claim 10, wherein the preheated motive fluid is further heated by solar energy directly, for providing heat to said motive fluid so that said motive fluid is vaporized by flashing.
 13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the additional heat provided for producing vaporized motive fluid comprises solar energy.
 14. Apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 1, comprising a heat exchanger suitable to pre-heat an organic motive fluid with a low-medium temperature geothermal fluid, and solar energy collecting means suitable to directly or indirectly provide heat to the pre-heated organic motive fluid for heating and vaporizing said motive fluid.
 15. Apparatus according to claim 14, when the solar energy collecting means comprise a solar collector.
 16. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the solar collector comprises a solar concentrator.
 17. Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the solar concentrator comprises a parabolic trough concentrator.
 18. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the solar concentrator comprises a Fresnel concentrator.
 19. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the solar concentrator comprises a solar tower central tower solar concentrating collector receiver system.
 20. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the solar concentrator comprises a solar concentrating collector receiver system with a secondary mirror and the receiver being on the ground.
 21. Apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a vaporizer to vaporize the organic motive fluid.
 22. Apparatus according to claim 21, comprising a controller for increasing or decreasing the pressure in the vaporizer as a function of the amount of energy supplied by said solar collecting means.
 23. Apparatus according to claim 14 further including a separate power plant for producing power from said solar energy.
 24. Apparatus according to claim 23 wherein the condenser of said separate power plant provides the heat for boiling the organic motive fluid in the power plant having organic motive fluid which is preheated by said geothermal fluid.
 25. Apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 1, comprising a heat exchanger suitable to pre-heat an organic motive fluid with a low-medium temperature unused industrial heat streams, and solar energy collecting means suitable to directly or indirectly provide heat to the pre-heated organic motive fluid for heating and vaporizing as well as superheating said motive fluid.
 26. Apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the solar energy collecting means comprise a solar collector.
 27. Apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the solar collector comprises a solar concentrator.
 28. Apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the solar concentrator comprises a parabolic trough concentrator.
 29. Apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the solar concentrator comprises a Fresnel concentrator.
 30. Apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the solar concentrator comprises a solar tower concentrating collector central receiver system.
 31. Apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the solar concentrator comprises a solar concentrating collector central receiver system having a secondary mirror so that the receiver is located on the ground.
 32. Apparatus according to claim 25, further comprising a vaporizer to vaporize the organic motive fluid. 